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Apr 7, 2014

My new life, and my new blog

Yes, it's the Grand Canyon. Big hole in the ground, huh?

Welcome to my new site. Or more accurately, a revamp of my old site. I started billiedoux.com in 2004 and took it down last year when we moved everything to Doux Reviews. And now billiedoux.com is ten years old, but new again.

I decided awhile back that I wanted a personal blog, something for posts that were not about entertainment. And even though I've been secretive about myself for years, I'm going to include some personal details. (That photo to your right is a shot of the Grand Canyon, which I just saw for the first time a couple of weeks ago. No, I'm not posting photos of myself. Don't you all remember the Billie Doux FAQ? I look just like Evangeline Lilly.)

Anyway. After twelve long years, I just left Los Angeles forever and have moved back to Pennsylvania, my home state. I found a way to retire early from my career as a librarian. And now I have a lot more time to write! And read, and paint, and visit family, and snuggle with my adorable cats. Personal blogs are nothing without pet photos, so here are said adorable cats.

The somewhat homely one on the left is Spike, and guess whom I named him after. The striped, pretty one on the right is Fox. Guess whom I named him after. No, really. Post a comment. I love comments. I so want this personal blog thing to not be a waste of time.

It's time that I "come out" about something. And that's Dan, or as he prefers to be called, Daniel, whom I've mentioned many times in my reviews. He's my son. Part of me didn't want to tell the world that I was old enough to have a grown son, but I do. When I first started writing about television, he was still in school. And now he's not. My son Daniel is a wonderful man, and I'm very proud of the person he has become. He might post some stuff here, too.

So anyway, how did I manage to stop working? No, I'm not elderly, although I'm probably older than I appear to be online. And no, Doux Reviews is not making a bunch of money. I wish. Doux Reviews is making thirty to fifty bucks a month on the average, which is better than a kick in the teeth and easily pays for its own upkeep, but what's left doesn't even support my book habit. The truth is, I made a couple of career decisions, one long ago and one more recently, that worked out for me financially. I'm on a permanent leash of a small budget that I hope won't turn into a noose, but all I've ever wanted to do is stay home and write, even if I have to live on peanut butter.

So now that I can do that, what am I going to write about? Obviously, I will not neglect Doux Reviews in any way, shape or form. In fact, I'm planning to write a lot more reviews, so you'll be seeing an increase in my presence on the Doux Reviews site. But I want to write about other things, too. I'm planning a post or two about… yes, I just left it… the weirdness of life in Los Angeles. I've always wanted to post what I wrote about my trips to Norway, France and South Korea. There's political opinion, too, although I know that might be controversial. (I'm a liberal. I've always been a liberal, since I was old enough to think and form my own opinions.)

But my first real post will be about my sister. I wrote an essay about her a couple of weeks ago and sent it to a few friends, and I'm going to post it here. I hope you'll stick around and read it.

What a lovely article, very moving, and I can't wait to read more! I've just bookmarked your new blog and put it right under Doux Reviews which I've been reading for years! :) Congratulations and looking forward to reading your future articles!

Yay Billie! Good luck with your new blog! I've never seen the Grand Canyon. I'll get there eventually. I hope both cats have recovered sufficiently from their trip. And don't say you've left Los Angeles forever! Come back to me Billie!! COME BACKKKKK *cries*

Welcome back to the East Coast! We're still waiting for spring, but hey...Can't wait to read your political posts...being quite left of center myself, I am sure I'll be nodding my head with you.As far as your age...from what I can gether from other "posters" I am one of the older ones, so who gives a crap, right?

Doux Reviews is one of one of three blogs that I read, and I have read it every day for years. I have always appreciated your insight, your wit, and your ability to somehow express ideas that I also had, but was unable articulate. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the real world, too!

Very much looking forward to more new reviews from Billie herself. And more cat pictures. Cat videos, even!

I've been around since early Lost days, when Billie's reviews were always among the most upvoted on some other site, where one day you pointed us readers to this site. I wonder how newbies are finding their way to Doux Reviews these days.

Thank you for being with us all these years.

I've always pictured Dan to be your husband/boyfriend, and was also quite suprised when only recently I learned you have a son. Probably should have been able to put the two facts together then. Then again for a good while I assumed ChrisB to be a man. The twists just keep on coming in this show called Doux Reviews. :)

The name Dan continues to cause a bit of unease every time I think of commenting, as I too am a Daniel and wouldn't want to be mistaken for the one made famous in your reviews.Thus I remain Anonymous. It was quite alarming when a week or two ago the Anonymous option went mission on Doux Reviews, glad to have it back. I was wrecking my head trying to come up with a name such as "Not That Dan" or "Different Daniel" but couldn't think of any that I liked.

Billie I'm so excited that you started your own blog and I get to read more of your writing. I have been following you're reviews since the wee-old days of TvTome and followed you over to billiedoux.com when that was shut down. I can't believe that was ten years ago now! It still boggles my mind how quickly time can pass.

It was nice to learn that the Dan you've always mentioned is indeed your son. I think it's awesome that you and your son share such the same interest in TV shows and are able to watch and discuss them together. My Dad and I sort of have that same dynamic - we watched 'Alias', 'Lost', '24' and countless other shows together. We don't watch a lot of the same shows anymore since I started predominantly watching cable and premium cable TV series (my dad refuses to upgrade his cable service and has zero interest in online streaming), but every once in awhile I will buy him one of my current favorite shows on DVD so we can watch together and continue to have that dynamic.

Anyway, thanks for over a decade of wonderful reviews. You have no idea how many great series you have gotten me into (to think I might have never watched BSG or Buffy if it weren't for you..what a travesty that would have been). I look forward to reading more of your thoughts. Even though I've never met you, after a decade of reading your reviews you feel like an old friend that I want to check in on every now and again. This blog sounds like a good opportunity to do that.

Keep on doing what you do. :)

p.s. And I am also glad the anonymous comments have been turned back on! Although I know it's seriously time I get a Blogger ID like the rest of you. One day.

Thanks for starting up this site again and being willing to post about your life here. I have been reading your TV reviews on this blog and Doux Reviews for longer than I can remember. You have been such an important part of my life since you have introduced me to some really great shows and have offered me and others a great place to discuss them.

I am so happy that you are getting a chance to retire and live the kind of life you have dreamed about for a long time. It sounds like my kind of retirement, too.

I have bookmarked and been reading reviews on your site since the "Lost" days! It's nice and refreshing to now read your blog, also, Billie. You have a true knack with writing and I look forward to reading more! The article about your Ruthie brought tears to my eyes. Bless you and thank you for sharing.Hugs, Vanessa in Vegas

Hey Billie, color me shocked to see you have a personal blog! I've been faithfully following you since the TV Tome days, but not as much lately as I've had a hectic work schedule for a year now. Hopefully I don't sound too weird/stalkerish but I've always been intensely curious about you. For some reason I always pictured you as mid 30s with a tight ponytail and horn-rimmed glasses. I don't know why lol.

I, too, always thought Dan was your husband. Based on your comments, I pictured you two sitting down and watching shows together. I would never have guessed he was your son! I'm glad to finally know something about the mysterious Billie Doux lol. Who knows, maybe one day you might work up the courage to post a pic of yourself? Looking forward to reading about whatever you have to say!

1) Could you please setup the RSS feed in this site so it only picks up posts from this site?. I already have douxnews posts in another RSS reader.

2) It's so refreshing to be able to post again as anonymous. Going through the Google/OpenID door is so much hassle that I don't comment on douxreviews anymore. I understand that you guys must have removed it for a reason, I just wanted to say that I missed it.

Anyway, best of luck in this new endeavour. I'll be here reading whatever you want to say.

Hi Billie!Nice to hear that you´re indeed a person and not a fictional character writing about other fictional characters in real world television. For some reason (probably like most of your readers) I feel like I know you for so many years (probably not ten, but close to that), so it’s nice to hear your thoughts on other topics and not just tv shows. Also, congrats on the new direction of your life! Love, Cecile

sunbunny, I never should have kept who Dan was a secret. But before I took my email address off the net, I used to get emails from people that would try to get personal information out of me, and it just made me permanently paranoid.

Josie, I am indeed the cat on the right.

Anonymous, the RSS feed is now set up. I have a personal Twitter account, too. But I don't have a personal Facebook account -- the link here goes to the one we use for Doux Reviews. And btw, we are again allowing anonymous comments on Doux Reviews. We had a situation going on before and changing the comment set-up was the only way to address it. We've changed it back now.